Broken, Beaten, and Scarred
by bubbly bitch
Summary: Effie had arrived in District twelve just one year ago after the rebellion. She lived in a victors home. Her rescuer remains unknow, but its only a matter of days until she knows who her secret savior is.
1. Back story

Broken, beaten and scarred, I was, I am. Abused by the Capitol, forced into a cruel job. I was released only one year ago, I moved to district twelve, for it being the only district I truly know. My life is an open book and my scars are the story, both the good and the bad scars, inside and out. But all and all, I am Effie Trinket, and this is my story.  
Back story-  
I was living my life above them all, living in the Capitol having everything handed to me on a silver platter. Most people would love having to barely do a thing, but you forget how to do things in the end. I was the escort for district twelve for the Hunger games, from the 64th to the 75th games. The rebellion came during the 75th games and I was captured. Most of everyone managed to make it to the hovercraft to district thirteen. I was beaten, electrocuted, burned, hit, and left to freeze in a cell naked and alone. Three weeks had passed and I was rescued, half-starved to death, I could have been dead within the hours. My rescuer remains anonymous to this day.  
Shortly after I was rescued I was placed in district thirteens' medical center. My scars could not be fixed, my broken bones took months to heal, and my weak body is still in process of becoming my normal size. I was released after six months and moved to district twelve. I lived with Katniss' mother until my things arrived and I had a home. I now live in one of the vacant victors house's, surprisingly my neighbor is the much more sober Haymitch Abernathy. It has now been a year and district twelve is officially my home.


	2. Secret Flowers

The afternoon was warm and I was out in my garden fiddling with the lovely tulips that had been sent to me that morning from an anonymous person with a note that was on the side. The note fell into my hand after I had adjusted them into the ground. It was written in sloppy ink and read, _'Effie, meet me tonight in the old mayors house.' _I had the slightest idea of who it was from, but I didn't feel comfortable meeting someone I may not have ever met. What if I were captured again? Killed. 'I won't go' I thought to myself. I moved my hand to put a strand of my shoulder length hair behind my ear only to notice a black smudge on my finger. I turned the paper over to see more words, them reading, _'Wear something nice.'_ This eased my concerns about going, but if this person wanted to meet me so badly why didn't they ask in person? I thought to myself. I walked back into my house heading straight upstairs for a shower. The night was only hours away and getting dressed and ready would be somewhat easier if I decide to go rather than waiting.

The water was hot it burned my skin, but I kept it like that, only to remind me I won't be left in the cold again, hopefully that is. I finished my shower and stepped out with a towel wrapped tightly around my body. I slowly took the towel off looking at my bare body in the mirror. The scars, all of the scars, they haunt me to this day. I quickly put the towel back around me tight and dried my hair and straightened it. After my body was dry I turned to avoid my reflection in the mirror and dressed in a long purple silk dress with thin straps and silver heels, about inches, besides who knows how tall this mysterious person is. After I had dressed I put light make-up on, nothing near what I used to wear. My eyes were outlined in a soft -purple, my lips slightly damp with a light pink lip gloss and my cheeks with a soft pink glow. After I had finished my make-up I curled my straightened hair. I stared at myself in the mirror _'What a fool I must be. Getting all dressed up to meet someone I may not even know' _I sighed walked out of my bathroom and down stairs onto my white plump couch and sat waiting for the night to come, and it came to slow.

By the time it was nine pm I walked out of my door and towards the old mayor's house. I looked around the district as I walked, it was silent. The Capitol was never silent it was always busy and rushed and noisy, but the silence was almost deafening, it reminded me of when I was left alone in the cell, freezing, my body rotting away slowly. I shook off the thought and continued walking. I came to the door and reached my hand to knock, the door suddenly opened and a hand grabbed my wrist, not hard, but gently, just applying force to pull me in. I closed my eyes expecting to be hit, but I felt something touch my cheek, soft and gently. It felt scruffy. I opened my eyes slowly, it was the one and only Haymitch Abernathy. He was affectionate, that was the last thing I would expect form him. He was dressed in a suit, a clean suit, which is a shock. He looked into my eyes and released my hand. I returned my eyes to his and walked with him to a lone table that sat in the middle of a large room with a single candle lit. He pulled my seat out for me and pushed it back in once I sat down. I watched him walk to the other side taking a seat. He gave a loud sigh, not an aggravated one, but a questioning one. He grumbled slightly and began to speak "It's nice to finally see you again, Effie." I felt he meant to say more than just those words so I remained quiet waiting for him to finish. After sitting in a moment of a long silence he final spoke again. "I'm sorry for the way I asked you to meet me here, but most people don't exactly see me talking to someone from the Capitol…even if it isn't how it was." I nodded in agreement still not speaking, out of shock and confusion as to why I was asked to come. "-I asked you to meet me here tonight because I feel you should know about the things that happened when you were…" He hesitated to say so I said it for him "Captive?" I said firmly. He sighed and nodded looking down. I couldn't help but feel bad for saying that, I wasn't sure if I should be the one feeling bad about mentioning something that had happened to me. "Yes, that." He nodded once more. I felt the air in the room get cold, maybe it was just me. I sighed and looked down then back up at him right after "We might as well not pretend it didn't happen. It will always be a part of me, now anyway." I put my head back down as his eyes shot to mine. I couldn't look him in the eye, not now at least. I haven't looked at a man since I was captive, and then I saw Haymitch and it was like everything changed. No, it couldn't have, I couldn't possibly let this man, this-this drunk, _'No.'_ I stopped myself _'he isn't a drunk, not anymore. He's a man. And he-' _ My thoughts were cut off by him speaking "You don't have a clue who saved you…do you?" He sighed and he reached his hand over to take mine. I saw his hand on the table, mine placed in my lap I slowly moved my hand to his waiting for him to finish "-It was me." I looked up at him with shock. I thought it was maybe Plutarch or even Peeta, never would I have thought it was Haymitch. "You-" He leaned forward pressing his lips onto mine before I could finish, only for me to return his kiss.


	3. Night&Day

We stayed in this position for a while. It was awkward, yet comforting. 'He won't hurt me.' I kept reminding myself, but the thought always came back to me. Only two years ago I trusted the men who nearly killed me and look at what happened. I pulled back breaking the kiss Haymitch looked at me with confusion while I just shook my head standing up "I can't do this." I whispered quiet loudly. "Eff-" He began but I cut him off "I'm sorry, I just can't." The tears were burning in my eyes like flames. I wanted to trust him, I really did, but I couldn't. I bit my lip, hard, to prevent the tears, but one managed to slip down my cheek. Haymitch looked at me with sadness in his eye, with fear for me. I turned to leave only to find myself turning back to him and running into his chest. His arms wrapped perfectly around my waist, while my head fit perfectly into the curve of his neck. My tears ran from my cheeks to his neck while his arms stayed tightly around me. For once, I felt perfectly safe.

I opened my eyes only to find myself in a room, one I have never seen. I quickly sat up, once the blur left my eyes, and looked around the room. I heard heavy breathing behind me and my stomach twisted in a knot. The last thing I remembered was crying in Haymitchs' arms the night before. I slowly turned to look at the person beside of me. I looked down and there he was. Sleeping, bare chest, and no knife in hand. I gasped loudly in shock, causing him to wake up. I quickly covered my mouth watching him. "I'm so sorry.." I said putting my hands down. I stood up to leave, but he put his hand on mine and looked into my eyes "Please stay." was all he said. I nodded and lied back down beside of him.  
"Last night...what happened?" I asked looking at him while lying on my side. "You fell asleep while you were crying." "Why didn't you take me home?" I asked. "Door was locked." was his only reply. "And why not just leave me at the mayors house?" "Because I care enough to keep you safe." "Oh." I nodded slowly. "But why the same bed?" He sighed as if I aggravated him, "I thought about the guest bedroom, but then I thought again. I though, maybe we both just need someone to take that empty spot on the bed and wake up to someone who truly cares about them." A small smiled came over my lips as he said this. It seemed we both did, indeed, need this.  
That's when I realized Haymitch Abernathy loved me. And I just might love him back.


	4. The Peacekeeper

I opened my eyes to find myself lying with my head on Haymitchs chest. We fell asleep after taking about why he saved me and how he had loved me from the first time he saw me, even if he wasn't very fond of my appearence, he still loved me as a person. I sat up carefully trying to keep the bed from shifting and smiled watching him sleep, quietly and peacefully. It felt like we were asleep for hours. I leaned down to kiss him softly and stood up walking out of his bedroom and down stairs to his kitchen. Surprisingly enough he had coffee. I poured a bit and took occasional sips while walking through his living room looking at the few pictures he did have. "Whatcha doin' sweetheart?" I jumped when I heard his voice from behind me at the staircase. I smiled and turned to face him. "Oh, I was just looking at a few things.." He nodded and walked into the kitchen, he didn't seem very amused to me looking at his pictures, but he didn't seem upset about it either. I walked into the kitchen behind him staying a decent amount of feet away. He took a glass down from the cabinet filling it with water and finished it in one large gulp and sat down at the table. I sat across from him, although it was quiet distracting, since he was only wearing his boxers. Wait, no. I shook my head getting the thought of me actually enjoying this view of Haymitch out of my mind. I may love him, or atleast feel that way now, but I can't already be thinking that way. I cleared my throat in a slight annoying manner as I would have done in the Capitol. He looked up at me like I had interrupted him of something. He raised a brow as if he was waiting to see if I were going to say something. "Maybe...you could put clothes on and we could..do something?" He groaned and pursed his lips together standing up nodding "Fine, fine." I grinned and kissed his cheek. "I am going to go over to my home and change my clothes, I will be right back." I smiled and kissed his cheek once more.

I came back to his house trying to open the front door, I pushed a little harder the second time but it didn't budge. I heard shouting on the inside, it was Haymitch and another man yelling back and forth to eachother. I couldn't see through any of the windows. I ran around to the back of his house and leaned against the other door, I could still hear the yelling. I pushed the door harder and it opened as I stumbled in from the amount of force applied. "What is go-" I stopped as I saw the man he was yeling with. It was the peacekeeper who had tortured me.  
"Well, well. If it isn't Effie Trinket." I stood still as he came closer to me, Haymitch moving infront of me to block him from me. My fear was back right when I thought,_ 'maybe I could forget about it and be happy.' _"You're not taking her, you bastard." Haymitch said firmly to him, he moved his hand back and grabbed mine, tightly. "Oh, but I need to finish my job. Finish what I started." I felt my hand grip Haymitchs hand tighter. He drew back his free hand and hit the peacekeeper knocking him to the floor. He looked back and me and nodded "Leave. Go. Now!" I stood still in fear and shook my head, the tears were building up inside of me with his words. "No." "Effie, listen to me, you need to go!" I shook my head again "No Haymitch! No!" He stared at me for a moment as he looked into my eyes pleadingly. "Not with out you." I whispered holding his hand tighter. He looked back at the peacekeeper who was still on the floor, then back to me. He gave a single nod and ran with me holding my hand still. I let him take the lead, he ran towards the old mayors house. Once we arrived at the mayors house he led me to the back, there was somewhat of a drainage sewer on the side of the house. "Go in there." He said looking at me." I looked at him with a bit of disgust on my face. "You're coming too, right?" He nodded letting go of my hand. I crouched down and slid down into the sewer , it was deep enough to where I wouldn't be seen by people around but I could see them clearly. After I was in for a minute Haymitch slid in quickly and grabbed my hand and started to run in the murky water. I was barely keeping up, if it weren't for him holding my hand I would have been atleast near the enterence. We went as far as we possibly could go, which was until we reached the downfall of the sewer. It looked like we were atleast two hundred feet high above the bottom of the downfall. Haymitch let go of my hand and kneeled down in the water, he took a rock he found near by and dropped it down to estimate the length. He stood back up and looked at me. "We are going to have to go down there, we can't stay here, where ever we come out at will have to be our best hope." I nodded taking his hand again, it made me feel much more comfortable with it there. "But how do we get down there?" He looked back down over the edge and sighed "Like if it were a water slide at an amusment park." It was a straight 90 degree drop, I wasn't comfortable with it, but Haymitch seemed to know what he was doing. He sat down at the edgem his legs hanging over against the wall that was behind the water. He motioned me to move to his lap, I placed my back against his chest while his arms wrapped firmly around me. He pushed us off of the wall using his legs. I closed my eyes tightly to avoid watching us go down. It didn't take long. We landed with a hard hit to the partially deep water, barely enough for my head to stick out. We walked up the rest of the way until we saw and exit. He held himself up with his hands and got out reaching his hands down to grab me. He pulled me up to the ground and hugged me tightly due to my shivering "I-I'm freezing" I shuttered. "I know." He whispered softly holding me tighter than before. Once I was warm enough to stop shivering he released me, once more, taking my hand. We walked around the area we had come out to. The sewer led out to a lake in the middle of a forest. Haymitch looked around before we decided on a place to settle for the rest of the day and that night. We were deep into the woods, but we could see what went in and came out of sewer. "Thank you." I whispered looking down. "For what?" He asked putting his arm around me noticing my shivering again. "For saving me, once more." I sighed and leaned against his chest. I felt his lips touch the top of my head. "Don't thank me for saving you, princess." Princess, my father called me princess when I was younger, but when it came from Haymitch it sounded right. I turned my head and leaned to kiss him but before I knew it, he alread had his hand on my cheek and the tips of his fingers barely on the back side of my neck pulling me closer into the kiss. I leaned more into it wrapping my arms around his neck as he kissed me. He lied me on my back and looked into my eys as he held him self up with one hand and hept his other on my waist. "Effie. I love you." He said it with the most affectionate voice I had ever heard come from him. I smiled and placed my hand up onto his cheek caressing it with my thumb, "I love you too, Haymitch." I moved my hand to the back of his neck and pulled him down to kiss me again.  
A few hours had gone by and all we had done was lie there either kissing, cuddling, both, or talking while cuddling, which I didn't mind at all. I moved my body so I was lying ontop of him, I placed my chin on his chest and smiled looking at him. "You know, I love your eyes." I smiled and kissed him once more. He laughed and tilted his head up to kiss me back "Well yours will always make me think of the ocean, some place you and I will be, together, just us." He smiled. I turned my head to the side and lied it down on his chest, my ear right of his heart. Each beat of his hear would make my ear drum tickle, but it was a wonderful sound. I felt his arms tighten around me and heard him exhale quiet loudly. "Haymitch.." I whispered "Hmm?" That sound made his chest vibrate cuasing me to smile. "Where will we be going tomorrow?" He began to stroke my hair soothingly and kissed my head "We can worry about that then, princess." I nodded and closed my eyes falling asleep against his chest. The sound of his heart beat in one ear, the sound of crickets and owls in the other. It wasn't how I would imagine my first night with a man I was in a relationship with, but it definately over topped the others.


End file.
